Pasa Sustainable Agriculture has announced the reinstatement of a $59 million contract with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Soon after President Trump took office last year, the federal government abruptly stopped payment and then terminated the five-year agreement, which was part of the Biden administration’s Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities Program.
“I’m thrilled to say that after a year of lawsuits and appeals and repeatedly going back to USDA to renegotiate that, we did secure our contract,” said Pasa executive director Hannah Kinney Smith.
As part of the renegotiations, the contract no longer covers payments for climate and equity-focused farm investments, but still includes conservation projects, business and marketing for farms.
Smith said Pasa has been able to rehire half of the 60 people it had to lay off when the contract was canceled.
Pasa’s initial contract with USDA was intended to help 2,000 smaller farmers in 15 states, from Maine to South Carolina, address climate issues, such as projects that reduce flood risk by fencing cattle away from waterways or planting perennial crops.
The equity aspects directed some benefits to underserved farm producers, environmental justice organizations, minority-focused institutions of higher education and tribal groups.
Before Pasa’s contract was terminated, it had funded 125 farm conservation projects through the program and received 850 additional applications.
Under the renegotiated $59 million contract, Pasa has about $50 million left to spend, according to Smith.
She said that by making the funds available again, the money can help farmers, strengthen agricultural communities and care for landscapes, at a time when it is sorely needed.
“Things right now are downright volatile when it comes to agriculture, when it comes to markets, when it comes to trade, when it comes to the climate,” she said. “And so it’s really, really important to just keep plugging away at what farmers need.”
Pasa joined a federal lawsuit last March along with municipalities and other non-profit organizations affected by President Trump’s funding freeze.
“Yes, we did have a lawsuit; yes, we did an appeal,” Smith said. But she doesn’t think that was the main driver behind the government capitulation.
“I think it’s more that we were so determined, and we kept going back and going back and going back, that the federal government realized that there was going to be a lot of pressure to have these funds be returned,” she said.
In an email, the USDA said, “NRCS [Natural Resources Conservation Service] reconfigured the previous administration’s Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities (PCSC) into Advancing Markets for Producers (AMP) to increase direct support to farmers while reducing unnecessary administrative burden and expenses.” The email also stated, “NRCS is currently working with PCSC grantees to amend their grants in line with the AMP priorities.”
Details about timelines, application processes and farmer eligibility will be released in the coming weeks, according to Pasa.
March 17, 2026: This story was updated to include USDA comments.
Read more from our partners, The Allegheny Front.